John Legend Celebrates a "Legendary Christmas!"

John Legend - a brand new holiday album is out now entitled; A Legendary Christmas with executive producer Raphael Saadiq. 

This is John Legend's first holiday album which does not disappoint. If you like the classics from Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, Nat King Cole than you will enjoy this album which still embraces the traditional with breathing a fresh new life into standards along with new songs. Great guest appearances such as Stevie Wonder plays his harmonica on the track; What Christmas Means To Me along with jazz singer Esperanza Spalding singing along in the fun tune; Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. 

During a recent appearance Legend explains;  “In the song, we talk about how frustrating it can be to look at your phone, read the news, see what’s happening,” he told the audience. “See how senators treat women who come forward with sexual abuse claims. See how people ridicule young people who march for the right to go to school without getting shot up. See how people would denigrate those who make the very simple claim that black lives matter. We can get frustrated when we see all of that, but we can’t give up. It’s not enough for us to talk about it or tweet about it, we’ve got to do something.”

A Legendary Christmas Track List

1. “What Christmas Means to Me” (featuring Stevie Wonder on harmonica)2. “Silver Bells”3. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (featuring Esperanza Spalding)4. “No Place Like Home”5. “Bring Me Love”6. “Merry Christmas Baby / Give Love on Christmas Day”7. “Christmas Time Is Here”8. “Waiting for Christmas”9. “Purple Snowflakes”10. “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)”11. “Please Come Home for Christmas”12. “Wrap Me Up in Your Love”13. “By Christmas Eve”14. “Merry Merry Christmas”

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Frank Palangi wants to "Break These Chains!" (Exclusive Interview Part 1)

Frank Palangi a native New Yorker is one inspiring rock artist. His music has lent itself to a very loyal and dedicated fan base that loves his original material and his dedication to breathing live into great songs. No matter the venue from an arena to a bar one feels immersed in his concert experience and leave respecting his artistry even more or becoming a new found fan. 

YouTube: Steve Palangi YouTube Channel
Official Website: frank palangi.com

Frank, your statement “I have no Plan B backing down on my dreams” is a perfect way to start this interview since it truly states who you are as an individual and musician.


Q: When did you come to this as a way of life if you will and motto for yourself?


FP: about 10 years ago when I decide to quit my day jobs and follow my dream of music



Q: One truly must be self-motivated and have a pure desire and passion to put yourself into an industry that can be very rewarding yet challenging, what are two examples in your musical career that exemplified this for you?


FP: I would say opening for a national artist - my first one I had to sell a certain amount of tickets to play it and it was a bit of challenge but did it and the rewarding part was playing

on that stage in a bigger club with an audience of a few hundred vs 25 people.

2nd was my 1st recording experience to Nashville TN with producer Rogers Masson and rock band Day of Fire. At the time I took my life savings and put into the project took that leap of going to TN and working in the bigger studios in person. The reward was working with my influences and hearing the finished product and hearing the progress I was making rather than being own my own working on a demo.


Q: This year has been a very incredible one for you with the release of singles; Halloween (main theme from the motion picture), The Terminator (theme from the motion picture), and my personal favorite your cover of the great song; Purple Haze. What was the draw for you to record and release these three songs?



FP: I've always played Purple Haze live a bunch of times and thought my version was different enough to add some new spice for a recorded version I'd like people to hear. As far as the movie cover themes - I've been a film fan first and have a small background in that. I've scored some indie horror flicks around the area and decided to start with a few examples of pieces I love to release to break into that a bit.


Q: Your very successful EP “Set Me Free” (2017) is a great 6 track list with two singles; “Break These Chains” and “Set Me Free”, what was the story of the song choices and overall sound/musical journey you set forth for this project?







FP: All started when I met Brian Craddock the guitarist of the band Daughtry. It lead me on the journey to VA at the Cat Room - his studio - to record the 1st single Break These Chains. I learned so much and was a dream come true working with a guy on that level. We really dialed in the tones and feel we wanted to make a new Palangi sound. Through this process and past EP's I learned a lot and decided to produce the rest of the EP myself and record and mix. It took me months to do but I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Your always challenging yourself to get to that next step. Set Me Free was the 1st I wrote next and like Break These Chains just flowed. Brian did guitar on it and helped out as well. It's been the most played songs and music videos I have to date and the most request for live shows and internet radio from my catalog.



Q: Frank, you took a five-year hiatus from releasing albums, what was the reason behind that? Do you find that as a writer having that time provided more material and growth musically?


FP: I never took a break to be honest. I recorded two songs Hope and Falling Too at Chris Henderon from 3 Door's Down studio and in between that period I worked on writing the 3rd EP. I played a lot of shows and grew as an artist during that time getting to open for a variety of national acts - doing regular gigs every week - producing few local artists and started to get into some of the movie scores.



Q: You have a fantastic story as to seeing Daughtry live and how that perhaps gave new breath into your musical journey. Walk us through that and how it came about and perhaps what it provided you as a musician?


FP: I had entered a contest through a radio station to get VIP tickets to see Daughtry to do a special acoustic performance for only 60 people. I didn't win but I remember telling one of my fans to try and she won! She asked me to go and maybe get a chance to meet them also. I met Chris and gave him my CD and talked to him quickly about the Day of Fire days and Brian afterwards waiting for his ride to the main stage that night. He mentioned he had a studio and produced some people when he had time and talked about some mutual friend we had and few weeks later began talking about recording something together.


Q: There is no question that you have a very devoted fan following, tell us why your fans have mean to you and how they have supported you and impacted you?


FP: They are great! the online support has been a pleasure to get to know people whom I've still never met but they love the music and want to support. Fans hold the key to an artist's future and I enjoy the interaction because that's what it's about to get to know your fans. They appreciate more when the artist responds that an automated message. Some of their stories have insipred a few songs as well in the past. They are one of the reasons why I'm still doing this and able to do it and pump out new music.


Q: Seeing Frank Palangi LIVE is a true experience, one can tell by hearing it through your Live EP and of course seeing you at a gig of yours. What is one of your most memorable live gigs you have done and why?


FP: 3 Doors Down at the Egg in Albany, NY. It was just them and me on their acoustic tour and was my wow moment to play a "high end" gig with a dressing room and everyone was so nice and it was a make or break type moment I felt when I stepped out on that stage. I felt like yup I could do this all the time! lol.

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